Mushrushu Stamps

The Ishtar Gate of the ancient city of Babylon dates to the
reign of Nebuchadnezzer II, around 580 B.C. The bas-reliefs
which decorate the gate include two known animals -- the lion
and the wild ox -- and one unknown animal, a dragon. Originally
the word for this animal was read as sirrush, but
now mushrushu is the accepted form. If the mushrushu
ever were a living animal, it apparently is now extinct.

Some cryptozoologists suggest the mushrushu is the same animal
as the Biblical Behemoth and the "dragon" which King Nebuchadnezzar
kept in the temple of the god Bel according to the story
in the apocryphal tale of Bel and the Dragon. In that tale Nebuchadnezzar
confronted Daniel with the Bel dragon. Daniel killed it.

Other cryptozoologists suggest the mushrushu may have been
a specimen of mokele-mbembe, a sauropod-like animal said
to inhabit the Congo area. Another candidate is a giant
monitor lizard like the Komodo Dragon.